Iran's enemies unsettled by its deal with the West, but Bashar al-Assad of Syria says it is 'a great victory' The nuclear deal with Iran caused fury in Israel and consternation around the region at the likely increase in influence and resources of a newly enriched Iran. Most telling was the loudest expression of support. "I am happy that the Islamic Republic of Iran has achieved a great victory by reaching an agreement," President Bashar al-Assad of Syria said in a message to his Iranian opposite number, Hassan Rouhani. "In the name of the Syrian people, I congratulate you and...

For a head of state to visit the White House and not pose for photographers is rare. For a key ally to be left to his own devices while the President withdraws to have dinner in private was, until this week, unheard of. Yet that is how Binyamin Netanyahu was treated by President Obama on Tuesday night, according to Israeli reports on a trip seen in Jerusalem tonight as a disastrous humiliation. After failing to extract a written promise of concessions on Jewish settlements, Mr Obama walked out of his meeting with Mr Netanyahu but invited him to stay at...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is the only major Republican likely 2016 presidential candidate who hasn't weighed in on the controversy over Indiana's "religious freedom" law that erupted this week — and his explanation for avoiding the issue is questionable.

The project involves three years of exploration for conventional oil, north of Nahal El Al near Moshav Natur, a former kibbutz on the southern Golan Heights. Drilling was set to begin at a Golan Heights oil exploration site in the late night hours of Monday, the company announced that evening. The project, which is being implemented by Afek Oil and Gas, involves three years of exploration for conventional oil using up to 10 wells. The company chose site No. 5 out of 10 to start with, located north of Nahal El Al near Moshav Natur, a former kibbutz on the...

A damning report by Palestinian legislators, which has been seen by the Telegraph, concludes that Mr Arafat did nothing to stop the deals although he publicly condemned the structure as a "crime against humanity"... The report reveals that the cement originally came from Egyptian companies which supplied it at a huge discount of $22 (£12.50) a ton to help rebuild dilapidated Palestinian houses or buildings bulldozed by the Israelis. Between September 2003 and March this year, 420,000 tons of cement were allegedly sent to three big Palestinian companies. According to the report, however, only 33,000 tons were sold in...

Israeli report says developments violate agreements; guards say the chief security officer is establishing ‘a militia’ The US Consulate in Jerusalem is training a force of 35 Palestinians from East Jerusalem to serve as armed guards, particularly for consular trips to the West Bank’s Area A, which is off-limits to Israelis, it was reported on Wednesday. The arrangement violates a 2011 agreement between Israel and the consulate, the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth stated, whereby only IDF combat veterans would be authorized to carry arms as consulate guards. “The consulate was authorized to keep roughly 100 handguns for security staff, on...

As new details are revealed in the investigation of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror cell in Hevron, security officials estimate that hundreds of Hamas terrorists are leaving the “moderate” terrorist group in favor of ISIS to wage war on Israel—and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The leader of the Hevron ISIS cell, Ahmed Wadah Salah Shehada (22), admitted under Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet) investigation that he switched from Hamas to ISIS in recent years because it was too “moderate” for him, in that Hamas didn’t compel Sharia Islamic law, reports Channel 2. Reportedly the security system assesses that...

Shai Galili, Likud's comptroller, disqualified Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from running for the party leadership in the December 31 primary, a move that Netanyahu disputes and is likely to appeal. Galili says that Netanyahu must answer claims that he improperly used party resources in his leadership primary run.

BO is the reason for the season - regardless of which “season” you’re celebrating:Cat Walkin’ our way through the “Holiday” Season: “I’m too sexy for my house…”For Hanukkah, Big Guy, widely described by pro-Israel groups as the U.S. president “least friendly to the Jewish state since its founding,” believes that he is Jewish in his “soul.” “I am, in my soul.” Which might explain the Hanukkah colors OFA chose for their annual cultish “Holiday Greetings” card, featuring our first Jewish President:Butt getting back to Boo-Rock’s claim that he has a “Jewish soul” - I’m sure that could be true, were there...

Late Tuesday night, the student government at UCLA voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling on the university to divest from the State of Israel. The move, sponsored by the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine, passed on the same day that two Palestinian terrorists murdered five Jews, including three Americans, as they prayed in a synagogue in Jerusalem. This is the second time that students at UCLA have voted on the topic of divestment from Israel in the last year. A similar resolution failed to pass in February on a 7-5 vote after TruthRevolt's Ben Shapiro made...

John Kerry invoked his Vietnam War service to push back against an Israeli cabinet member who criticized his recent comments on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. During a security conference in Munich last weekend, Kerry suggested that if his Israeli-Palestinian peace effort fails, there could be serious consequences for Israel.

TEL AVIV, January 16, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Israeli pro-life group Be’ad Chaim slammed the government's recent decision to extend abortion funding to virtually all women, saying the move was a reflection of the country's moral and spiritual degeneration. "The moral fibers of our nation are in shreds," said Sandy Shoshani, national director of Be’ad Chaim (which means "Pro Life" in Hebrew). "You can't bring a curse on your nation and not expect repercussions. We just opened the door wide and made ourselves vulnerable." LifeSiteNews.com reported that the nation's Health Basket Committee, which determines what medical procedures are paid for...

On Thursday a United Nations interpreter, unaware that her microphone was on, uttered words of truth in reaction to the General Assembly’s adoption of nine politically-motivated resolutions condemning Israel, and zero resolutions on the rest of the world. Under the mistaken impression that she was speaking only to colleagues, the interpreter uttered the following words into the headphones of every UN delegate, and before a live webcast audience worldwide: “I think when you have… like a total of ten resolutions on Israel and Palestine, there’s gotta be something, c’est un peu trop, non? [It’s a bit much, no?] I mean...

The U.S. ambassador to Israel on Monday sought to reassure Jewish leaders unnerved by the Obama administration's negotiations with Iran on that country's nuclear program. Ambassador Dan Shapiro insisted the U.S. would not let Iran develop a nuclear weapon even as it sought to reach a deal that could remove some sanctions on Iran. "Obama has made it crystal clear that he will not permit Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon period, and is prepared to use all elements of our national power to ensure that we are successful," Shapiro told the Jewish Federation of North America’s General Assembly in...

Egyptians protest after homes demolished to create buffer zone; Hamas official says Egyptian move could "solidify the blockade." Egyptian soldiers keep guard in Sinai Photo: REUTERSThe Hamas government said Sunday it was "surprised" to hear that Egypt is planning to create a buffer zone along the border with the Gaza Strip. Ehab Ghissin, spokesman for the Hamas government, said that there should be no buffer zones "between brothers and friendly countries." Ghissin expressed hope that the Egyptian move would not "solidify the blockade" and increase the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip. He called for establishing a free...

Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said he “can’t contemplate” that Congress would not authorize military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and therefore “turn its back on” the United States’ allies in the region and “on innocent Syrian people who have been slaughtered by this gas.”Host Chris Wallace asked Kerry on "Fox News Sunday" what would happen if Congress refused to give its authorization for military action in Syria, and Kerry replied that he does not believe that will happen.(Also on POLITICO: Kerry: 'Case is building' in Syria)

“Kerry would have an easier time convincing Greenpeace to dine on whale steak and spotted owl than in brokering peace between Israel and Palestinians,” Michael Rubin, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told TheDC. What’s more, Rubin said, with all the fires flaring around the world, it makes little sense that Kerry would devote so much time to a problem that isn’t currently in a position to be resolved. “Egypt is imploding, and Turkey is going south fast. Antagonism between Europe and America is at an all-time high. China is bullying U.S. allies in southeast Asia. And what is...

A group of ultra-Orthodox men attacked a police car in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Yisrael on Thursday, shattering its front and back windshields. Police were called to the scene after the neighborhood’s so-called “modesty patrol” beset a car in which a group of ultra-Orthodox women were traveling, claiming that they were dressed immodestly. Several ultra-Orthodox men broke the car’s windows, punctured its tires and poured fish oil on it.

Escalations continued on all sides in Syria’s civil war except, curiously, among the Syrians. The EU decided not to renew the embargo on arms sales to Syrian rebels, which prompted the Russians to pledge delivery of anti-aircraft missiles, which prompted Israel to implicitly warn that they would make great targets for their air force. In the middle of all this, John McCain got a photo op with a Syrian opposition that’s being dominated by radical Islamist militias, including an al-Qaeda affiliate that forms the core of their military operations.In other words, it’s a mess, but let’s start with the embargo’s...

Explosions shook Damascus just before 2 a.m. Sunday, and rebels in Syria said jets struck at least nine locations in close proximity, including a research center. Israel is now bracing for retaliation from the blasts. NBC's Richard Engel reports. NEWS ANALYSIS By Richard Engel, Chief Foreign Correspondent, NBC News ANTAKYA, Turkey -- War makes strange bedfellows. President Bashar Assad’s regime is in the unique position of being targeted both by Israel and supporters of al Qaeda. It is hard to imagine more a diverse couple: Sworn enemies fighting against the same government. Israel carried out a series of attacks on...

Syria state media reports of Israeli airstrikes targeting several military positions. Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Lebanon's Hezbollah group, officials and activists said.Syria's state media on Sunday reported that Israeli missiles struck a military and scientific research centre near the Syrian capital and caused casualties.The attack, the second in three days, signaled a sharp escalation of Israel's involvement in Syria's civil war."The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have...

Israeli officials on Saturday reportedly confirmed the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike against Syria and say it targeted a shipment of advanced missiles. The officials said the shipment was not of chemical arms, but of “game changing” weapons bound for the terror group Hezbollah. One official said the target was a shipment of advanced, long-range ground-to-ground missiles.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Isaiah 62 1. For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2.The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. 3.You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4.No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But...

Joe Biden also said the US remained committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Barack Obama's threats to use military force to prevent Iran securing a nuclear weapon are more than idle bluffs, vice-president Joe Biden told the biggest pro-Israeli lobbying group Aipac on Monday.Biden said that while the US preferred a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iran, a military option remained on the table."The president of the United States cannot, and does not, bluff. President Barack Obama is not bluffing," Biden told the audience in Washington.Israel is seeking assurances of support...

BEIRUT (AP) -- An Israeli air attack staged in Syria this week may be a sign of things to come.Israeli military officials appear to have concluded that the risks of attacking Syria are worth taking when compared to the dangers of allowing sophisticated weapons to reach Hezbollah guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon.With Syrian President Bashar Assad's grip on power weakening, Israeli officials fear he could soon lose control over his substantial arsenal of chemical and advanced weapons, which could slip into the hands of Hezbollah or other hostile groups. These concerns, combined with Hezbollah's own domestic problems, mean further military...

Latest News Syria, Allies Condem Israel Strike Israel bombed a suspected shipment of antiaircraft missiles in Syria on Wednesday, according to regional and U.S. officials, in its most ambitious strike inside its neighbor's territory in nearly two chaotic years of civil war there.The early-morning strike in a border area west of Damascus targeted a convoy of trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah, the anti-Israel Shiite militant and political group in Lebanon, according to a Western official briefed on the raid. Israel launched an airstrike against a convoy of trucks moving near the Lebanon-Syria border Tuesday, a senior U.S. official...

Israel conducted a rare airstrike inside Syria near the border with Lebanon, hitting a convoy of trucks, foreign officials said Wednesday, amid fears President Bashar Assad's regime is providing weapons to the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.

There are three subjects that Jews in my social circle never tire of: food, movies and the two-state solution. Consider me officially tired of the third. I began promoting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict long before it was popular. In 1986, when I helped organize a rally in Beverly Hills calling for Israel to negotiate with the Palestinians, no mainstream Jewish organization would have anything to do with us, and Jewish “patriots” shouted us down and disrupted the event. I believed then — and still believe — that establishing two states is the best, most just way to...

Security: As Hamas launches rockets toward Israeli population centers, Tel Aviv's investment in missile defense passes its acid test, destroying the vast majority. The U.S., meanwhile, is moving in just the opposite direction. On Sunday, Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system successfully shot down two Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets aimed at the heart of Tel-Aviv by Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. It was just one of many such interceptions by what is now the world's only battle-tested missile defense system. The "Fajr" (Dawn) series are mobile-launched, unguided, solid-fuel artillery rockets developed by Iran during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war with...

(Reuters) - Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza on Wednesday, killing the military commander of Hamas in an air strike and threatening an invasion of the enclave that the Islamist group vowed would "open the gates of hell". The onslaught shattered hopes that a truce mediated on Tuesday by Egypt could pull the two sides back from the brink of war after five days of escalating Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli strikes at militant targets. Operation "Pillar of Defense" began with a surgical strike on a car carrying the commander of the military wing of Hamas,...

I strolled into my neighborhood Hallmark store looking for an appropriate card to send to some Middle East Muslims expressing my condolences for grievances they may have against my country and against Jews who might have offended them throughout the years. I saw the birthday cards, the grieving cards, those celebrating weddings, and others, but none fit my search. Neither did the clerk recall ever having seen such a card. I called her attention to the many apologies that President Obama has made to Muslims, and she agreed that there would seem to be a need for cards of this...

WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a direct appeal to American voters on Sunday to elect a president willing to draw a "red line" with Iran, comparing Tehran's nuclear program to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and reminding Americans of the devastating repercussions of failed intelligence. His remarks were an impassioned election-season plea from a world leader who insists he doesn't want to insert himself into U.S. politics and hasn't endorsed either candidate. But visibly frustrated by U.S. policy under President Barack Obama, the hawkish Israeli leader took advantage of the week's focus on unrest across the Muslim...

This work was originally published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol. 27, No. 3, Fall 1994, pp. 117-194. The paper received considerable notice, and in 1995 the Mormon History Association recognized Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection with its annual award for the best article in Mormon studies. [snip] The one thing about which we might all agree concerning Joseph Smith is that he was not the usual sort of person. He did not approach life itself--or his religious commitment--in a usual way. Yet the character of our historical investigation of Joseph Smith and his times has...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Isaiah 49 19. “Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away. 20. The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’ 21. Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these—where...

It’s no great secret that the leaders of local Jewish organizations are Democrats and fervent supporters of the party. There has been so much controversy over this relationship recently that the only way to clear the air would be to urge Jewish leaders to publicly declare their political affiliations. Then their congregations and organizational members would at least have a better idea of what's motivating these leaders’ sermons or organizational policies. Many members of synagogues and Jewish groups assume that their leaders are politically neutral and have only the interests of Israel and Jews at the top of their agendas....

Cutting Iran's link to the Mediterranean Sea is a strategic prize worth the riskWe're not done with the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran. Given that the current round of negotiations with the world's major powers will not fundamentally change Iran's nuclear program, the question of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities is likely to return to center stage later this year. In addition to hard-headed diplomacy and economic sanctions, there is an important step the United States can take to change Israel's calculations -- helping the people of Syria in their battle against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Iran today hanged a man convicted of playing a key role in the 2010 murder of a top nuclear scientist and of spying for Israel, the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting Tehran's prosecution office. "Majid Jamali Fashi, the Mossad spy and the person who assassinated Masoud Ali Mohammadi, our nation's nuclear scientist, was hanged Tuesday morning (local time)," IRNA said. Local media reported August 28 that Jamali Fashi was sentenced to death after being "convicted of Moharebeh (waging war against God) for placing a bomb-laden bike and blowing it up in front of martyr Ali Mohammadi's home, in collaboration...

A major Israel TV station on Sunday night broadcast a detailed report on how Israel will go about attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities in the event that diplomacy and sanctions fail and Israel decides to carry out a military strike. The report, screened on the main evening news of Channel 10, was remarkable both in terms of the access granted to the reporter, who said he had spent weeks with the pilots and other personnel he interviewed, and in the fact that his assessments on a strike were cleared by the military censor. No order to strike is likely to be...

ISTANBUL - Iran turned down a request by the United States for a rare bilateral meeting on the sidelines of nuclear talks between the Islamic republic and six world powers in Istanbul on Saturday, the official IRNA news agency said. There was no comment from US diplomats, whose country has not had direct ties with Tehran for more than three decades. "The Iranian delegation rejected the request of Wendy Sherman, the representative of the American delegation, for a bilateral meeting," IRNA said.

Former U.S. diplomat John Bolton alleged Thursday that the Obama administration leaked a story about covert Israeli activity in order to foil potential plans by the country to attack Iran's nuclear program. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/29/bolton-accuses-administration-leaking-story-on-israeli-planning-along-iran/#ixzz1qY6Il9aA

A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions. Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday said there is still a chance that Israel could buy Korean-made T-50 supersonic trainer jets. Last month, Israel decided on the Italian-made M-346 trainer jet that had been in competition with Korea's T-50 in a US$1 billion acquisition bid. But U.S.-based Defense News recently reported that the M-346 deal could be scrapped. Italy had agreed to buy $1 billion worth of Israeli-made surveillance planes and spy satellites in return, but its fiscal crisis apparently means it might be unable to keep up its end of the deal. Lieberman told reporters trainer jet...

Meir Dagan has been described as "hard-charging" and "stops at nothing." For more than eight years, Dagan made full use of those qualities as chief of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, where he focused on keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. When that job ended, Dagan did something unheard of for an ex-Mossad chief: he spoke out publicly, voicing opposition to Israel launching preemptive airstrikes against Iran's nuclear facilities anytime soon. Dagan believes the Iranian regime is a rational one and even its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - who has called for Israel to be annihilated - acts in a somewhat...